Similar to K6 (and presumably A6), the Stage begins with a Research Student unit named the ‘Zenza Girls.’ While it’s a cute concept, it seems to just be a way to push already pushed RS to the non-RS-show-attending patrons. Management has lately been really adamant that Team RS is pretty much an official Team like A, K, and B are, but since when did the Teams open for each other? I just don’t get it. And it’s not like Team RS isn’t performing: they just started doing A5. Whatever. (It’s worthwhile to note that RS aren’t involved in the rest of the newer crop of Stages. That means no ‘Kenkyuusei Dance,’ backdancers, or microphone-grabbers. Yay.)

It’s a solo song. I don’t get it. The vast majority of actual AKB48 members haven’t had a solo recorded, but they’re having trainees perform them? Since when was that a good idea? I seriously question whoever made this decision. This is silly. The one thing I’m wondering is if the Zenza Girl unit is supposed to match up with the Team Captain’s unit. K6 had four girls in each, while B5 has one in each. We’ll see what happens with Takamina’s unit in A6. Regardless, Research Students don’t need/can’t handle/shouldn’t have a solo in an AKB Stage.

As for the song, it’s okay-ish. Certainly not on par with ‘Lemon no Toshigoro’ from K6, but I do happen to love that song, so it’s kind of a high standard. This ballad has a rather monotonous verse and a slightly-upbeat chorus… and live vocals. Which don’t sound too hot from premier girl. I like it enough to be one of those before-encore ballads, but it doesn’t work as a solo. And the ‘choreography’ doesn’t really add anything, either.

The costume is cute. Just a white school uniform with plaid. Not interesting. The center mid-drift panel seems to be the newest fad in AKB, as it’s all over this Stage as well as a couple older songs. For some reason the beret just makes me think of Acchan in ‘Aitakatta’ for AKB’s first performance at Kouhaku. It looks completely different, but I’m still seeing similarities.

Oh, and you can’t play hide-and-seek by yourself. Duh.

01 Yuuki no Hammer

After the customary ‘Overture,’ we find out that they’re doing construction on the Akihabara48 Theater! The girls all gather on stage acting as though they’re hammering/picking/making/destroying something using giant mallets and pickaxes. While not very believable, it does get the point across.

Along with their tools, they are wearing giant plastic jackets in either blue or pink with little tool belts that double as microphone holders. Honestly, the jackets are disgusting, but I’d love to see them in more colors to give the costumes a sort of sentai feel. On their heads they have those hard hats with lights on them that are generally used in mines. Maybe they’re in a mine? That would make the picks make sense… and I guess the theater is pretty dark. Anyway, the usage of the hats gives me a CinDy in ‘Tengoku Yarou’ meets ‘AKB Sanjou’ feel.

‘Yuuki no Hammer’ begins with a very percussion-heavy opening along with a very, very deep chorus. I have to wonder if the girls sang it and they just moved the pitch, or if they employed the usage of back-up singers. Either way, a very interesting way to start a song/Stage.

The rest of the song gets a bit happier and much more fitting for their costumes. During the first chorus, Miho and, gasp, Natsuki get to do a little deal in the middle, and afterwards, Kashiyuki joins them to walk a little circle. Not a big deal at all, but Natsuki was included, so that’s pretty awesome. Oh, and during the bridge, half of the girls do a miniature hand stand. I’m not quite sure the reasoning behind it, but I wish they had included acrobatics in ‘Saka Agari’ to fit its title!

Oh, and I really like how the choreography for the chorus is so simple. I feel like that can really get the audience into the performance right off the bat. Or in this case, hammer.

02 Inseki no Kakuritsu

A sudden strip-change reveals a costume underneath the asymmetrical space coat. Now the girls are all in cute red dresses with frills, lace, and ruffles galore. I think they remind me of another idol group’s costume, but I’m not sure which one. Possibly from H!P Kids or something. Interestingly enough, all of the costumes seem different from one another… with varying levels of attractiveness. Natsuki’s is relatively cute with a corset-like detail and a pleated skirt. But she looks great in pretty much everything.

Music-wise, it’s a combination of a generic cute song with a generic fun song. The verses seem very Team B in their shorter line approach, but the real fun is in the chorus. I swear, the first line is the most addictive thing I’ve heard in a long time from AKB, and has been stuck in my head all day. I also like half-way through the chorus when they repeat that set of lines since it speeds up from the slower half of the chorus. Just so gosh darned catchy. After a short dance break, a break down of the second chorus brings in the last reprise, which then goes into an extremely cute whispering section. I love it.

03 Ai no Stripper

(A note about the name, when I first watched the Stage, I totally figured out the title was ‘Ai no Stripper.’ I don’t know much Japanese, but I automatically fake translated the katakana pronunciation with English and was so proud of myself.)

After ‘Inseki no Kakuritsu,’ an old school AKB-style instrumental pops on with some members in semi-provocative positions. I’m seriously in love with this song, purely because it matches their older discography so well. I love that pure 80s sound that AKB used a little while before King Records came in, and this is a great ode to that style.

From what I can tell, this is a duet song, but at the build-up before the chorus, more girls chime in. At the end of the choruses, there may or may not be a solo line. The first verse showed Kasai singing, but there definitely could have been more girls, while the second verse showed Kashiwagi, but it sounded like she was going solo and no one on screen was singing with her. I’m not quite sure what’s going on with line distribution here.

I love that Natsuki got in the first verse (it’s sad that I’m excited about this sort of thing), and even better is that she was paired with Kasai, who she happens to be close with. They also partner near the end of the song, which makes me really happy.

04 Theater no Megami

More new costumes! I love lots of costume changes, and even better if some of my favorite members are involved. This time the girls are in sailor-inspired tops and skirts in yellow, pink, and blue. I’m not a huge fan of the ties, but school girls are one of AKB’s standard images, so I guess I’ll let it slide (especially since there aren’t any real school uniforms for Team B in this Stage). Personally, I feel like the costumes scream Idoling!!!, as I’m sure I’ve seen some costumes that are pretty much exactly the same thing. And the ruffled bloomers seal the deal, since I’m confident that I’ve seen Idoling!!! where those.

Still on the topic of costumes, I don’t really like Natsuki’s. I like that it’s yellow, but I’d prefer a tube top like some of the girls have and a more symmetrical bottom half. It looks kind of like the ‘Stand Up’ skirt to me… except you know, brighter. And still on the topic of Natsuki, I really hate how she’s stuck in the back corners the entire time.

As this is the Stage’s title song, I expected a lot from it, but I don’t think it ended up being good enough for me. It’s fun and the lyrics are very fitting, but composition-wise, I feel like it is a bit generic and lacking.

What really confuses me about the lines is that Mayu didn’t get a solo line in the first verse. It would have made all the sense in the world to have the first half of the song be solos and the second half to be trios… but that didn’t happen. I have to wonder if they’ll play with that sort of thing later on, like it seems they did to ‘End Roll’ in K5.

05 Hatsukoi yo, Konnichiwa (Sato S., Watanabe, Oku)

Unit song time! First up is Mayuyu’s unit! I think everyone had guessed that she’d have a three-girl song, since that tends to be what she gets. She was set with Sumire and Oku, both are fairly popular/pushed Under Girls and have brighter-than-average futures (Sumire is signed with Hori Pro and Oku is Akimoto’s ace). I had been guessing that Oku would be thrown into Mayu’s unit so she could perform in her unit in large-scale concerts, but I had thought Sumire would get a bit bigger of a push than this.

The top of the song is a piano intro that reminds me of a Sailor Moon opening theme (actually, the whole song does) with Mayu on the stage left platform. As the song continues, Mayu gets a big set of solos with Sumire and Oku doing duets till the start of the second verse where they get one solo line each, and it goes back to Mayu. While I understand that heaps and heaps more popular than them, I wish they could have a bit more time to shine… even though Mayu’s voice has gotten so much better. After a bridge worth of spoken lines, the chorus returns with a second following it (which may have a brand new set of lyrics?), and the song closes after the girls singing with the melody.

On the dresses: I like parts of them, but none as a whole. I like Mayu’s top and the other girls’ skirts. I would like Mayuyu’s skirt, but the longer section would have to be in the back. It’s made really oddly so that it’s just a layer underneath the regular skirt, and it looks just way too random on the side. Personally, if I designed it, the longer section would go in the back and that layer would go on top of the others, so it’s less noticeable. The ballad later on has costumes similar to what I’m imagining, so just check there.

06 Arashi no Yoru ni wa (Suzuki, Komori, Miyazaki,. Sato N.)

Next is AKB’s most club-worthy song to date! Starting up with a high-energy chorus, the four girls are trapped behind the now-used blinds on the sides of the stage. Those blinds were pretty much completely un-used from A1 through A5, so it’s nice to see them in a Team B Stage. Lots to say about this song, so I’ll divide it up a bit.

First off, the song reminds me of 90s J-Pop. Like Hamisaki Ayumi or Koda Kumi. It has traces of electronic sounds matched with guitars and the like… and is just wonderful. It’s the longest unit song in the Stage, and pretty much exactly as long as the longest Team song in the Stage, so that’s saying something. It has four choruses, along with a broken-down version right before the last one, and has surprisingly long verses, too, despite having a shortened second one (I feel like this happens with a lot of AKB songs I like). I think my favorite part is the instrumental right after the last chorus. The tune is to die for, and then it goes into ‘Itoshisa no Defense’-style background vocals… which is perfect. Seriously, this song’s only competition in its category is ‘Temodemo no Namida,’ and it’s already winning.

The line-distribution is surprisingly okay with me in this one. I’m going to keep mentioning ‘Itoshisa no Defense,’ because that’s what it kind of reminds me of, especially since I was really hoping for a unit like that for Natsuki in B5, so that mission was kind of successful. The first verse has duets by the leads, Miho and Komori, and then Natsuki and Mariya get an equal amount of time. The first verse also gives its only four solo lines to Miho before a build-up sung by the four of them. All four girls, pretty much in order of popularity, get a couple of solo lines each during the second verse in place of the duet lines. Instead of going to Miho’s solo lines from the first verse, we’re treated to the build-up with a Miho and Komori duet and a shorter line by the other two. The rest of the song is sung by all four girls.

I’m a huge supporter of lots of solo lines, but I feel like the members sharing lines with one another adds something to the music and makes it less about the performers and more about the performance. Similar to ‘Itoshisa no Defense,’ it all sounds good when the girls sing together. That said, I think the second verse is a great place for all the girls to really show off their individuality here.

I like the costumes, but they could be better. I’m seeing a cross between ‘Kuroi Tenshi,’ ‘Renai Kinshi Jourei,’ and the original A4 ‘Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru.’ I love that they really went for a dark club-ish feel, though I personally think if they just went with each girl in a different colored sparkly tube mini-dress it would be better. I really dislike the asymmetrical bottom halves, though I’m okay with the top: I think it has to do with the ruffled skirt not completely attaching to the a-line dress. Miho and Komori share the two-toned leotard-looking top, while Natsuki and Mariya get surprisingly high-cut bras. The open side of the dress alternates within each set of girls, so the costumes at least look a little bit different from each other. Miho has different boots, since she leads.

A special appearance is a red chair thing that you might find in a booth at an youthful urban bar or something. All of the girls take turns either sitting or standing on it, so it’s actually one of the few chairs in AKB world that is used for the duration of a song. I’m kind of not liking how squishy it looks, since Miho seemed to shake a little when she was on it.

My only major complaint for this unit is how the non-leading duo leave the stage so early compared to the other two. There’s a good twenty seconds when they’re off stage, Komori is stuck on the chair backstage, and Miho is dancing around. It’d be super cool if Natsuki and Mariya were back behind the blinds again.

Oh, and Natsuki’s in this song, which is amazing since it’s my favorite unit in the Stage. Singing-wise, she sounds really deep and sexy with Mariya’s voice, and later on… words can’t describe how great she sounds. It’s really powerful and contrasts with the rest of the girls in the unit in a good way. It’s amazing.

Also, I’m completely taken aback that she’s in a dance unit. I want to call it a dance unit since it has the most intense dance and they’re wearing the attached microphones, but really it just seems like a talent unit, since the song is so vocal-dependent, too. Recently I haven’t been seeing Natsuki dancing as well as I know she can, though I’ve seen her go all out many, many times before. I’m sure that sometimes she just doesn’t want to put out that much energy. Here, she really goes for it and makes me really proud of her. She’s always been a great dancer and great performer, and now that she’s putting more effort into her movement, maybe more people will take notice.

So yeah, best unit.

07 CANDY (Masuda, Kasai, Sato A.)

A complete change of pace brings in a literally sugary-sweet unit.

‘CANDY’ is Kasai’s new B5 unit. Generally speaking, she is one of the few members of AKB who get good units in every single Stage. While this is certainly not my style of song, it really fits her: cute and beautiful. Her support singers for this song are Amina and Yuka, and I’m not really too happy about that. I feel like Amina is too popular/important to play back-up to Kasai, and Yuka is too useful to do the same. This is a great unit song for all three of them, but I just wish the lines were more equal so there was less of a feel like Tomomi was completely in charge.

Personally, I love the three of them together. Kasai has a really high singing voice, Amina higher, and Yuka has a really low one, but she’s impressively versitile, so she ends up fitting. Kasai’s last unit, ‘Dakishimeraretara’ with Mocchi and Natsuki, was one that, though it demanded a great voice, didn’t rely on her as much as it could have. She obviously led the unit, but the other two had plenty of moments to show off. Here, it feels like she’s the only integral member of the song, which I don’t think fits the image they’re trying to give off. The other two are talented and have well-sized fanbases. For me, Yuka is a good example of the perfect voice for an idol in a group like AKB: she has a distinct sound and style, but if the song doesn’t fit her usual tone, she can work with it to fit the situation. Amina is pretty much the polar opposite, but I actually like her voice. It’s usually on pitch, but that pitch just happens to be higher than everyone else’s.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a big fan of the song. It’s just a bit too cute for what I generally like to listen to. It has en excellent melody and is kind of addictive, but it might end up being one of those songs that I will want out of my head right away.

The costumes are similar in that department. The trio looks like a basket of faded Easter decorations, complete with fancy microphone stands. One of the many things I dislike on idol costumes are tiers. And that’s basically all the three of them are wearing. Kasai’s two piece attire is kind of cute for her, but that garter doesn’t match… and I am a huge fan of garters. Amina’s reminds me of ‘Choco to Yukue’ in a bad way. Whichever student designed this needs to be held back a year. Yuka’s dress, while disagreeable with me, isn’t all that bad. In fact it reminds me of the ‘Romance, Irane!’ costume that Natsuki/Atsuko/Mayu wears.

At the end of the song, the girls start licking their suckers that were in the baskets on the stands. I was half-expecting them to throw them into the audience.

08 Locker Room Boy (Ishida, Kobayashi, Kitahara, Hirajima, Chikano)

Kitarie gets to lead the big unit of the Stage. I’ve never understood why AKB’s larger units always have to have a big focus on the lead and the rest of the members don’t get anything. I totally get that Kitahara is way more popular than the rest, but they should get at least a little spotlight! I honestly can’t tell what’s going on with the line distribution thanks to the hands-free microphones and this LODs camera angles, but it looks like only Rie gets solo lines, along with possibly Chikano and Kana? I’m completely unsure of what all happened there. There’s too much movement and individual stuff for me to tell with just this video.

‘Locker Room Boy’ is oddly generic in its composition and is easily forgettable. While the choruses sound pretty good, the verses are just kind of boring. Luckily, they used props (lacrosse sticks) to add a bit of interest to the piece. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much they used them and how they didn’t look too random in the theater.

I’m getting tired of all of the red plaids AKB’s been using over the years, as it all kind of looks too similar, but these costumes look nice, with each girl getting something a little bit different. I’m just glad they didn’t go the ‘Boku no YELL’ route and give the girls actual uniforms. That’d look even worse than the construction worker boots their wearing.

09 Yokaze no Shiwaza (Kashiwagi)

Look, Kashiwagi gets a solo song. Who would have thought?

I don’t like ballads. Pretty much ever. That means I don’t like this song. On the other hand, I’d say it’s better than the two previous solo songs within AKB’s Stage discography. It’s a tad faster and more soothing than the others. While I don’t like the song all that much, I think this is right up Natsuki’s alley. She loves slower, more natural songs, and has used a few of them in karaoke tournaments over the years. With the current unit set-up, the only songs Natsuki can sub for are ‘Locker Room Boy,’ and this one, so maybe she’ll eventually get to sing this. I’d love to get a solo from her… and if she doesn’t get a single or something, than this sort of thing may be the only way to get that solo. Granted, the only girl to have subbed for the solo songs in Stages is Masuda Yuka, and this is one of the two units in B5 that she can technically perform without an extra MC… so maybe Natsuki won’t get that chance. If that’s the case, I just hope both Kashiwagi and Yuka are out on the same day, and maybe a Natsuki solo may happen.

When I was trying to predict units for B5, one possibility was a Kashiwagi solo. I had thought that they wouldn’t do this, because Matsui Rena of SKE48’s Team S just got a solo, and she’s basically the same person as Kashiwagi. Apparently I was wrong, and Kashiwagi did get a solo. She should throw on a vest sometime and perform Rena’s unit since their costumes are so similar, too.

10 100 Meter Conbini

I’m not quite sure how to describe this song, but I’ve been hearing the term ‘eurobeat’ tossed around, and I guess that’s what I’ll consider it, though I don’t think that’s the right genre.

The entirety of the song is super addictive with lots of different disco-like elements playing at the same time. I really like how there’s so much going on in the verses alone. First, it’s a quiet instrumental, when the next girls start singing, a heavy bass comes into play, later a destructive sound effect brings in the next set, with a build-up for the chorus. I’d really like to know what that instrument thing is that plays between sections of the song. It’s in any 70s-style song from AKB, like ‘Romance, Irane!’ and ‘Kaiyuugyo no Capacity.’

My only problem with the composition is how long the instrumental runs after the last chorus. It could totally have ended with the last phrase, but they kept it going forever and then repeated the end of the chorus.

I love the costumes used for this set in the Stage. While they really do look like rip-offs of Otome-gumi’s outfits, I think they’re brilliant. Each girl gets a slightly different dress with a huge variety of accessories. Natsuki’s costume is superb. I’m a bit jealous of Mayu, though, since she’s the only one with a random garter.

11 Suki Suki Suki

Straight out of singing about convenience stores comes B5’s only cutesy filler song. For some reason the entirety of the song reminds me of K6’s ‘White Day ni wa’ and I can’t help but compare the two.

The verse begins just as you’d expect from a song like this: adorable, though a tad boring. Then comes a weird choppy section right before the build-up for the chorus. I wonder if this was added later on to spice up the song…

The chorus is yet another addictive one, though not as memorable as some of the others from this Stage. It seems to be kind of a call-and-response chorus with half of the girls singing at a time. The end of the chorus features a couple girls re-iterating a section of the chorus with quieter background music. After the second chorus, the bridge’s choreography is fantastic. They all crouch over and run in a counter-clockwise formation and then kind of stumble like mechanical dolls before going into a broken-down chorus. I love it. They remind me of hamsters or something. In a good way of course.

12 Sayonara no Kanashibari

The last song of this set is a sexier one with quartet lines. Similar to ‘Ai no Stripper,’ it sounds a lot like an older AKB song. The formations somehow remind me of ‘Yume wo Shinaseru Wake ni Ikenai.’

I love the chorus for this one. It’s set at a slower pace than the verses and has the girls kiind of take turns singing different words while the rest fall. The first chorus shows the girls kind of randomly moving, while the second has the girls in specific groups. Both look interesting, but I prefer the first. The final one puts them into lines so the cannon approach is super-obvious. This is one of the Team songs that I feel like would benefit from having solo lines.

The end of the song puts the girls into a ‘B’ formation, with Natsuki as the connection of the right side’s semi-circles. This does not fit with the song, nor the theme of this part of the Stage. I don’t get it. We don’t need this here.

13 Shiokaze no Shoudaijou

Ballads usually are put at the end of the Stage before the encore, and this is no exception. I wish they would switch it up somtime, as it’s been like this for a little while.

‘Shiokaze no Shoudaijou’ has relatively cute costuems: light green or yellow plaid dresses with lots of white lace trims and blue corsets. They fit all of the girls really well, which is something that seems to have been missing in the Stage thus far. My only problem is they’re all so similar to one another. I’d prefer it to be yet another song where each girl has something different. Accessorising the outfits are a plethora of staw hats, flower pins, and random leather purses.

I’m not a huge fan of the song, mostly because it’s a ballad. Luckily it actually is rather pretty, and certainly ranks well about Kashiwagi’s solo. My one big problem is with how they only have half of the Team sing during the first verse, which is fairly common, but then still don’t use the other half for the bridge section. That means a bunch of the girls will only get to sing the choruses if this were somehow performed in concert.

14 Honest man

Encore time! The girls come running onto the stage from either side to start the song. It’s not nearly as dramatic as many of the other encore enterances that have been used lately, but I guess it’s somewhat different, while boring, so at least there’s a variety going on.

The verses remind me a lot of ‘Yuuki no Hammer’ in how rythmic they are, but here itall sounds a bit more melodic. The choruses are fantastic and remind me of a newer Tegomass song for whatever reason. Great song, but there’s one big problem.

These costumes are disgusting. Maybe I’ll warm up to them, but I just am not a fan. There’s a possibility that I’d like them if they had plainer skirts/shorts, but still, they look too grunge-inspired like Sae’s new unit in K6. They’re a bit too fitting for a magician rather than an idol. And some of those hats are hilariously gross. I do like Tomomi-chan’s hair tie, though.

The end of the song puts them in their own poses, which switch to tough-looking stances with their arms crossed by the time the next song begins.

‘Team B Oshi’ is another one of those member introduction songs, like ’16nin Shimai no Uta’ and ‘Wasshoi B.’ The girls are introduced in alphabetical order with the verses divided up similarly. Like the other songs of it’s type, this is a fun energetic one. The verses have bunches of little things going on, but the choruses are just drop dead adorable. The fifteen girls not being introduced sing a repeating chorus line saying who the audience should pick, while the girl being named does a cute little phrase or pose or something. Notably, Kana does a bridge, Mariya does a jig, Chikarina leap frogs, and Mayu does her famous ‘Let’s Go!’ line from ‘Hatsukoi Dash.’ Natsuki throws in her catchphrase for good measure, and I, while not surprised, love it. I can’t wait for her birthday show for this one.

The whole song is full of great little hijinks, so I’m hoping this’ll be one that’s fun to watch in each performance. I don’t like it when songs are self-referential, but if it’s completely obvious, then I guess it’s kind of okay. If only they would stop making ‘A K B’ signs like SKE does in S3.

16 Bokutachi no Kami Hikouki

To finish off the Stage we have a feel good song about paper airplanes. I am really enjoying this one, even though it doesn’t totally fit my preferences. In this first LOD, it looks like Natsuki even gets a mini solo line, but I’m guessing that it’s a duet line and they just hid the other girl. No group song solo lines for Natsuki in this Stage… sad.

The second verse brings in the title’s props and the choreography changes for the better. Apparently each plane has a personal message from its original holder, so when they eventually do throw them, I’m a bit jealous. And that’s impressive that they can find their signed plane in the box while still on stage. I’d expect them to have to dig for a while. They’re prepared, apparently.

So, over all, pretty good Stage. In terms of Natsuki, it’s not as good as K5, but I feel like some of these songs fit her more than some K5 songs did, despite not showing her off as much.

(Side note: in the ‘Arigatou Gozaimasu’ at the end of the Stage, you can hear Natsuki start talking first.)

I really hadn’t planned to review this, but I felt the urge to write an actual post for the blog again, so: NHK09.

So, my last large-scale AKB48 concert review was their previous show at NHK Hall in 2008. That was just one performance. This reviews three (slightly cut-up) concerts put on within two days in April this year. That said:

RSL GO TIME!

Concert 1 (Day 1)

Honehone Waltz

Akimoto and company decided to start off this first-of-its-kind concert series with a not very popular, anti-climatic unit song. Mariko, Mai, Acchan, and Kojiharu are used to bring Honegumi’s only A-side a sort of ‘mature’ appeal. Usually performed by some of the youngest in AKB, four of the most popular members of Team A, and AKB48 for that matter, don the bone-adorned tutus and full-body coverings in an attempt for comedy. Personally, I think the quartet did a perfectly fine job and I’m sure that their fans enjoyed seeing them in such an unexpected shuffle. However, I do wonder about who is wearing whose costume. Did they get new ones? None of the girls look like they could fill out Maachan’s old costume, and Mariko is notorious for getting new costumes made due to her long torso. Then again, AKB’s costumes always tend to include an abnormal amount of elasticity so the majority of the group can somehow fit in a single size. Regardless, according to the backstage footage included on the third disc of the set, it seems like the girls had enormous troubles learning the choreography to ‘Honehone Waltz.’ I’m not sure if it’s because they weren’t taught it by their usual choreographer and they had only Erena, Oku, (and possibly Tomo-chin) to learn it from, or if they weren’t given time to perfect the steps. Either way, they seemed rather frightened by what looks to be some of the least complex choreography the group has ever used.

Korogaru Ishi ni Nare

Next up is Team K’s trademark song with oodles of ‘We are the Team K’s. I wish that they would phase this out or something. I understand that it’s a huge part of Team K’s identity, but I’ve never really liked the song, and it’s been in EVERY concert so far. Team K has so many great full-Team songs to choose from that I feel could be more exciting to watch. I am glad that they’re using the K5 encore costumes, though. They match the anthem well.

Oh, and there was like NO Natsuki in this performance. Really. That’s another thing about ‘Korogaru’: the girls don’t switch positions much, so you only get to see the girls in the front row.

Tadaima Renaichuu

With another mainstay of AKB, Team A starts with their A5 opener. It’s such a great song, and such a great way to keep the energy going but continuing Team A’s ‘image.’ The lack of a full Team doesn’t hurt the performance as the song does a good job of not showcasing any members (aside from Maeda) and allowing all the girls a little chance to shine. While they might want to change up the costumes at some point (to just about anything, really) the performance seemed pretty fresh with the new stage elements for this concert. On that note, let me mention that I love the set up: two tiers of performance-able stage space, stairs abound, and entrances/exits in the back. It’s so ideal for a group like AKB that can efficiently be used for a single girl’s performance or the whole lot of AKB48, SKE48, and their respective RSs. Also, the pretty lights on the steps do a great job with their effects.

At first I was all “Who is that beautiful girl?” and then I was all “Oops. It’s Chiichan. I knew there was a reason why she’s immediately after Natsuki.

Wasshoi B!

Wow, they really went all out and included another Team-specific song. That’s all right, though, since I, along with everyone else on Earth, love ‘Wasshoi B!’ The sparkly ‘Anataboshi’ costumes do not go with the song whatsoever, but it’s nice to have such pretty costumes on such as pretty stage with such pretty girls. It all matches. Except the song. It’s not pretty: it’s in-your-face. Also, I feel like it’d be nice if Team B could perform a different song immediately after this so they could carry the energy they just brought out into something other than an MC.

Favorite part of the song. So cute, yet so innovative for AKB.

Te wo Tsunagi Nagara

Onto SKE48. First off, pretty lights. Anyway, SKE continues to perform really well and impress me. This seems to be their big promotional song before they got their debut single, and it obviously sounds very AKB and flows with the rest of the concert. The girls all seem really excited to get to perform their own songs in their own uniforms for once, and I’m glad they’re not singing ‘Party ga Hajimaru yo’ again like they always used to do. (As a side note, has anyone else ever wondered if the girls got to pick their partners for the song? I’m just imagining two girls who really dislike each other getting paired up.)

Chaimu wa Love Song

I love this song so much. It’s so cute and, though I’ve yet to read the lyrics, seems so odd. I mean, I’m guessing that they’re singing about the chimes in a love song… while singing a love song with chimes in it. If my lyrical guess is correct, it would fit the Akimoto-mentality of songs about things idols don’t usually sing about. Like how they’re not idols, for example. So, the song’s great, the line distribution is questionable, and the bubbles are perfect. Yay. Oh, and I really wish they would switch to their costumes that I presume are underneath their school uniforms. I mean, they have the time and the resources. Why not?

SKE48

And we’re back to ‘SKE48.’ Akimoto just seems to be so proud of himself that he was able to re-write this one song that now he has the girls perform it all the time. While yes, it is pretty clever that he matched up new lyrics so well, the song does get boring after a while. At first when Team KII and the RS showed up, I was wowed by their number, but then I realized that it was probably just under 30-ish girls, and I’m used to that many by now. But they do seem to take up quite a bit of the stage. Also, I love how the non-Team S girls’ costumes are conservative almost-plausible school uniforms while Team S has those pretty, obviously stylized variations on uniforms. And when I say ‘love,’ I actually mean that I think it’s silly.

Kuroi Tenshi

Naturally, Acchan’s unit gets to perform both verses of their song. The second verse is much more climactic than the first, so I guess that makes sense, but why can’t more songs have both verses sung? (I’m looking at you ‘Shamu Neko’ and ‘Dakishimeraretara.’) The girls here do an excellent job and the expensive lighting really helps fill up the stage. Personally, my favorite parts of the lighting are when the step lights are randomly white, blue, and red, almost resembling the ‘sea of headlights’ that Akicha’s solo line describes. Also, I think it’s pretty funny when they grab Acchan by the wrists and pin her to… nothing, since there isn’t a wall in the center.

Oh, and Fujie’s performance of this song is just magical. You can really tell that they put her in Acchan’s unit because she’s being pushed so much. In my opinion, she does much better in darker units rather than lighter fluffy ones like ‘Hajimete no Jelly Beans.’

Tenshi no Shippo

A song from black angels to a song with white angels. Aww. Okay, this is by far the cutest unit song AKB has put out… ever. I love how it’s so simple and doesn’t have any underlying thoughts: it’s just plain adorable. I’m glad that Aika got the chance to perform her unit in a larger concert like this, even though it can’t possibly be all that popular. And Yukirin is a good substitute for Gussan’s position. I guess that since she’s one of AKB’s famed selected members now, she gets priority over other girls for filling in sometimes. I would kind of expect Haachan to get it though, since she’s filled in a few times before. But oh well. Anyway, did anyone notice the lack of balloons? This would be an excellent time to get out huge, monstrous balloons for the girls to carry before setting it afloat. Better yet, a few stage hands could hide backstage or something and help the girls hoist one of those huge balloons they use at parades. Maybe of a tail to match the song. That would be creative, wouldn’t it?

Nakayan really does get a great position in the song as it’s a three-tier unit ala ‘Hatsukoi Dorobou’ with one girl getting half the lines, then the second getting a little bit more than the third girl. Her beautiful voice really fits with the 80s-like instrumental that pops on during her solo. Go Nakayan!

Wimbledon ni Tsuretette

First off, the line distribution in this song really perplexes me. The lead gets next to no lines, while the other two get multiple lines during the verse. I forget if the second verse is different, but I remember that it was odd the last time I saw an S2 LOD. And it’s not like Tsukina has a bad voice or something. I mean, some AKB unit songs are similar (‘Faint.’ to some extent ‘Tsundere!’ as Tomo-chin’s lines are in the often un-preformed second verse… basically Tomo-chin doesn’t get many lines), but this one completely throws me off. It almost feels like Kumi or Sayuki lead the unit while Takai back-dances. Weird. Oh, and did everyone notice how different the costumes were? Basically, it looks like the girls are all princesses of different places or something. This is kind of similar to ‘Tenshi no Shippo.,’ as they use the same colors and both have varying costume details. So there’s another clever transition.

Ame no Doubutsuen

I never noticed that the camel, currently played by Chikano instead of Imai, never got any lines in the verse and was lumped with the two leads, Erena and Kana. That kind of makes me angry… but again, I can’t change anything, can I? This is yet another cutesy unit making it a four-song streak that melts all of the wotas’ hearts. I find it a bit funny that Nonti is so ‘old,’ yet she’s always in the song when Team K performs it. Notably, during the recent Team-only tour in August, Noro performed ‘Ame’ and gave up her spot, complete with amazing solo lines, in ‘Kimi wa Pegasus’ to either Mocchi or Yuko. I don’t know if that’s her choice or management’s, but it still happened. Back to the song, though, I remember showing AKB to a friend of mine this summer, and when we got to this song (from the Natsumatsuri Hibiyaon concert), she had me stop to watch it and she was amazed by just how adorable they can be. At this point she even went to one of the four Japanese girls that were in the room and told her that she should try out for AKB and wear the penguin costume. (The Japanese girl quickly said she would never do such a thing and laughed along with her friends at the absurdity of being a member of such a group.)

The Nonti-ness of this performance is wonderful, especially the part when she looses her hood and she’s just as beautiful as usual despite being in an oversized panda-themed dress. I just wish there were more Chikano here.

Tane

I’ve never been fond of this song, but this performance really saved it for me. The combination of the club-like spot lights and colorful dresses really made me enjoy it. As with most idol music, it’s usually better to see performed rather than just listening to it. Also, the performance gave a really nice sensation of the music mounting and mounting during the chorus when Haruna, Takamina, and Miichan sing their respective lines. I hadn’t noticed that during my infrequent listens to the song. They should probably perform a different song, though. Maybe ‘3 Seconds’? That would be too good.

Hatsukoi Dash

WOW. They totally shortened the song! That was impressive. I’m pretty darn sure that AKB hasn’t ever had one of their songs shortened to JUST the first verse and chorus. Usually they’re way too restrictive with that sort of thing, unlike the other leading idol group who will turn singles into solos and has more medleys than you can shake a stick at. Anyway, their mini performance is just as much fun as you might think it would be, which means that if you like Watarirouka Hashiritai, then you’ll like the song, but if you don’t, you won’t like the performance.

Yaruki Hanabi

Their second half-song is their second single. It’s just as bouncy as usual and keeps the flow from their last song going. I’m glad that this one has a bit better line distribution than ‘Hatsukoi Dash,’ but it’s still very Mayu-centric with a hint of Aika, Nacchan, and almost no Harugon. The one thing that makes me a little bit upset in this performance is that Aika doesn’t get to sing her solo lines in the lead-up to the last chorus. That was my favorite part, but it wasn’t done in the concert here. Bummer.

Kaiyuugyo no Capacity

The second set of Team songs starts with the after-unit-section closer song from K4. I’ve never been a huge fan of it for reasons unknown to me. It’s very powerful and flashy, while at the same time allowing the girls’ vocals to be heard, all things that I enjoy. Maybe this is due to the fact that I love the two songs preceeding it, and so this pales in comparison. The performance here in a large event hall seems to add much more energy and excitement. I like how there aren’t many opportunities to lead in the song and it tends to be a free-for-all for attention, so the girls go all out. And the sparkly costumes help gather any attention needed.

Natsuki got a bunch of shots here and it made me proud to be her fan. In her quartet lines with Sae, Kana, and Ohori, you can really hear her voice, as expected. I very, very rarely hear her sing with Kana, but with Sae, she usually stands out as they tend to harmonize weirdly, and with Ohori, Meetan’s voice generally adds a more sensual after-taste.

Joshikou-sei wa Yamerarenai

I think that an interesting thing here was how they brought in the ‘Itoshiki Natasha’ unit. In a usual Stage performance, Miku, Sasshi, and Haachan don’t come onstage till the second verse since they were busy changing costumes after their MC. Here, they kept them on stage the whole time, but just threw them in the back for most of the first verse and chorus. I would have thought that they would sing with their groups from the second verse, but I guess not. Also, please note how they didn’t do their little tournament at the end of the song. I’m kind of glad this did happen, as it shortens their stage time, making room for more songs, and also means that Mayu doesn’t get yet another chance to shine, as I’m sure they would ‘rig’ who won to showcase the star of Team B.

JK Nemurihime

I actually prefer the performance of ‘JK’ at the theater instead of this. Here, there seems to be a lack of controlled spotlights and the entire stage is filled with white light. It kills the coolness that the intro suggests. I do, however, like how they took the first formation and somehow doubled it to fit onto the two Team-sized stages. Also, I’m glad that they turned around the girls who usually face the mirrors in the theater. It might be interesting if they kept the girls facing back, but had the monitor use the cameras from backstage to show their faces while singing. Either way, they aren’t completely hidden as I was afraid they would be. Anyway, I liked this more during the Stage performances, and I think the lighting really affected the mood of the song and turned it into a really boring show.

Sakura no Hanabiratachi

The continuous AKB48 single collection starts with their debut indie single, ‘Sakura no Hanabiratachi.’ This performance is with the AKB48 RS and led by the five SKE48 girls that had performed their unit songs during the third concert. Of course, they are missing Jurina, but she pops up later. I loved watching the performance because it was full of girls that I was just a little bit unsure of their identities, and so the whole time I was excited when I figured out who was who and where they were positioned in the song. A few short-comings that I disliked were how they weren’t wearing the costumes Team S wore during their run of S1, and there weren’t any fake cherry blossoms falling down during the last chorus. I also just realized how weird the fact that the color purple is used to signify the song, but the costumes are in blue hues, and sakura are pink… Whoever chose the lighting in A1 was an odd one.

Skirt, Hirari

Next is AKB’s famous song with up-skirts. Performing that night were the most popular seven of the current time. I’m guessing that if Yuko were there, she’d replace Takamina like in the JCB Hall concert from December. My big complaint here is that they switch up this line-up so much and the original girls don’t get their place to shine. I mean, these Team A girls are the ones that made AKB famous. They should get their original spots. Takamina getting no lines makes no sense whatsoever. Also, they could have given Erena and Takamina Rina and Tomo-chin’s lines if they’re going to do it this way. I know that in the ‘Skirt, Hirari’ single, all seven girls get solo lines, and I know that in the Stage version (pre-shuffle) all five girls get lines. Now, when they did shuffle A1, Rina and Itano joined the original five ala the single. Did they get their solo lines, or was it presented just like this? There isn’t any video from those performances, so I don’t know if I’ll ever know. Regardless, it’s stupid to leave two girls with no solo lines when it’s totally precedented that they can if they were to want them to have them.

Aitakatta

As their first single with a major label, ‘Aitakatta’ comes next. Awesomely enough, they made more of the original A2 costumes, and now all of the Teams have gotten to wear them! This makes me think that Erena and Aki may have been the only ones who never got to perform in that costume… but whatever. They all look splendid in it. It’s interesting to see that the performance was done by mostly less popular members. From what I can tell, Sae is the lead girl with Sayaka, CinDy, and Kashiwagi as the other ‘leads’ if you could call them that. Kashiwagi even gets to do the shouting part in the last chorus.

I love how all of the girls seem just completely excited to perform this one. It’s certainly not my favorite single, but I’ve found that it’s the one original that I love sheerly due to it’s nostalgia. I always think back to the performance of Kohaku with all kinds of Natsuki screen time. Ah, those were the days when Natsuki and partner-in-crime at the time Noro Kayo were very, very close possibilities to become senbatsu.

But yeah, super-duper energetic performance by the girls here. It’s fun to see them run around and have a good time!

Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru

Finally! Another performance of ‘Seifuku!’ They hadn’t performed it since Shibuya AX 2008. Yeah, so almost a year and a half, and such an important single in AKB history. It was the one that really set AKB48 apart from the other idol groups. They weren’t afraid to take chances. A huge reason why I’m glad they did this single collection is that this is a good way to bring new fans up-to-date. Casual AKB fans who maybe just buy the occasional CD, maybe ’10nen Zakura’ for instance, given the time this concert was held, might not know about some of these songs that AKB can and will perform. Especially if a fan doesn’t go to Stage performances at the AKB48 theater, they won’t know what they’re missing.

Oh, and they brought out the flames again. That’s just one more thing I love about ‘Seifuku.’ Now, let me add a little rant in here. Why on earth did Takajo Aki get Rina’s spot. Rina has always been up there in my ranking. Specifically, she’s so far been Natsuki’s only rival in stealing my number one postion. This means that I generally don’t like anyone who substitutes in for her for any song whatsoever. Examples include Yukari in what should have been Rina’s position in ‘Kioku no Dilemma,’ had she not been away from performing at the time, and Asuka in ‘Mail no Namida.’ Takamina in ‘Kikyou,’ and Miho in ‘Shinkirou’ at the Shibuya AX 2009 performance. Now, I’m just now getting over Yukari taking Rina’s H1 and H2 positions because, after all, she is her under, and literally just within the past few days I’ve realized that Asuka was a perfectly fine substitute because if they had to choose someone, it was going to be a girl that they pushed a lot, and one with a soft, good voice. Asuka’s one of the only ones who fits that bill (and I’ve decided that she’s destined to become on of the next front girls), so I’ve let that go. Takamina is a great choice as she has a similarly great, though completely different voice, and Miho’s performance was pretty good, but it was saved by the fact that Chiichan subbed in for Haruna. Anyway, I think it’d be neat if they would have chosen Mai to take Rina’s spot, as she was graduating in this concert series, and I’ve always loved her and Rina together in whatever song possible ala ‘Dear My Teacher.’ This could all be fueled by my dislike that Aki somehow got on the fast track for senbatsu-ism… Back to the concert!

Keitbetsu Shiteita Aijou

First fire, now smoke? I love reoccurring extras! The second of the dark singles, brings Natsuki back to the stage! I’ve always had some sort of respect for the song, but it’s never been one of my favorites. Sure, the lyrics are good, the PV is wonderful, the music is interesting, and the cast is superb, but it’s just never clicked with me, similar to how I never paid attention to Yuko till relatively recently. (On the topic of Yuko, it looks like Asuka got to sub again.)

Natsuki got a fairly okay amount of screen time here compared to previous performances. In the PV she was never focused on at all, and was only shown in the background in the dance shot, usually behind the less popular senbatsu, and a few times in the story scenes, notably with Rina, Yuka, and a cell phone.

She even got to be the first girl shown on the last ‘dareka.’ That actually means something to me. How sad. But, that makes me remember a review of a single song from a Hello! Project Wonderful Hearts concert where they actually counted close-ups of members. That sounds like it might be fun…

BINGO!

Comes out to cheer the gloomy corner of AKB48 single history, this time with pretty much the original cast of the first Kenkyuusei shows. I think that because I happen to love a ton of the girls that are part of this generation, I enjoyed this performance fully. I just wish that Asuka could have performed here to make it as perfect as possible. I’m not sure who else would need to be present to make it a full Team, but I have a feeling that Deguchi Aki would have to be here, and then cut a few of the newer girls, but I don’t know who. The addition of ex-RS, now Team S member Nakanishi Yuuka was an excellent choice since I never saw her perform with the other girls. In this performance the girls get to wear the PV dresses and I couldn’t be happier about this. It would be completely possible to do a complete A4R-Kenkyuusei show and just use the ugly casual outfits that they use in the Stage performance, but here they were able to wear my favorite of the BINGO! costumes (the others being the NHK07 costumes and the H1 costumes) in all their colorful glory.

Fujie looks incredible and shares her lines in the verse with one of the RS graduates of the night, Uriya.

Chiichan takes Mariko’s position.

And Chikano just looks darn adorable. I really want to go study who took who’s spots during the days this was performed. I know there is a thread at Stage48 which I think I made that has all of this information in it (I didn’t come up with it all, someone (Jasey?) gave it to me.)

Boku no Taiyou

New party dresses!? That’s right, a few of the dresses were used in the ‘Boku no Taiyou’ PV, but a bunch are new! I’ve always wanted to see AKB perform the song in those dresses, so this was a great performance for me. Even better: there’s Natsuki! This line-up features only one senbatsu of the single, Sayaka. The other seventeen girls seem to be the non-ex-RS and non-senbatsu of ‘Yuuhi.’ I’m not a big fan of the H1 line distribution, though, as it seems like twelve-ish of the girls sing, while the others just dance until the chorus. I’d prefer that all of them get spots in the chorus to sing, or half or less of them.

The three solo lines are sung by Aika, Harugon, and Nacchan. The thing I love about this is that these three are the non-Mayu parts of Watarirouka Hashiritai. Mayu might have gotten way more lines in those two singles they performed earlier, but now these girls are leading another single. It just made me feel happy for them, as despite being selected for a sub-group, they are still always overshadowed.

Natsuki’s performance was great. I’m not sure, but is her dress Mariko’s PV dress, or is it a new one? The back looks extra-weird. Either way, I’m glad that she performed in the song, despite me not thinking that she would get to.

Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka?

The third single in a row with the PV’s original costumes is ‘Yuuhi’ with nearly all the senbatsu members. Yuko was getting over surgery at the time, so she only participated in MCs at the concert series. Kashiwagi replaced her for this song. One thing I love about ‘Yuuhi’ is how calm and easy it is, yet it still has a danceable beat and is interesting to listen and watch. The school-girl-meets-gogo-dancer-meets-plaid costumes are a great little touch with their boots that apparently leave skid marks. I honestly can’t say much about this performance as it’s rather typical, even though they haven’t performed it in concert like this before. It’s a nice moment of rest during the medley.

Romance, Irane!

‘Romance, Irane!’ was the first single I was really around for as an AKB fan. Technically, I think ‘Yuuhi’ was released after I learned of AKB and joined Stage48, but over that entire month I wasn’t really paying attention to the group and I would just listen to their music and some of their PVs, similar to all the other artists I liked at the time. AKB48 was the first musical interest that actually evolved into a fandom for me. I remember when information was slowly leaking out about ‘Romance.’ First we found out the title and that it was the first song from H2. A Stage48 forum member told us that it was “like Seifuku on steroids.” Then we received rips from the theater and the radio. I listened to the song non-stop for a while, keeping it on loop while I did my nightly crunches. I wasn’t a big fan of the song to start with, but I slowly ended up liking it more and more. Its disco-like vibes, powerful choruses, and harmonic verses are one of my favorites, with me eventually learning some of the choreography and most of the lyrics, studying the costume distribution (Acchan’s has a row of flowers across the bust, Itano and Nozofisu’s has a silver belt, and Hana has extra ruffles on her gold costume; there are six different kinds of costume sets; and there are three possibilities of what the girls wear under their boots: white socks, purple stockings, and nothing visible), and learning about the lyrical structure of AKB songs. I love how dramatic it is and how lavishly ‘Romance, Irane!’ is presented. This concert’s performance was nothing to laugh at: perhaps my favorite of the shows it’s been in.

From all the concert reports I read, everywhere said it was Maimai with Team 2. This is definitely not the most complete information, as it’s actually Maimai, Mariko, Yukari, and Sayaka from the senbatsu, Natsuki, Nonti, and Yuka from Team 1, and then whoever is left from Team 2 and the vast majority of Team B. Although, yes, I do love that Natsuki gets to sing in a trio due to the H2 set-up of lines, I do wish that they would break from this format and add in Team B in the future so they aren’t just stuck dancing in the back. Maybe since Team B has participated in the G-Rosso shows, they’ll change this in future performances.

I loved the different girls singing taking the senbatsu lines. Notably Asuka and Meetan taking Acchan and Kojiharu’s lines.

One idea that I personally think would be cool for concerts with ‘Romance’ directly before ‘Baby!’ would be to have the girls wear the costumes for ‘Romance, Irane!’ with their costumes for ‘Let’s get Ato 1cm’ underneath like they do in H2, and do a quick change between songs. The golden two-pieces would match ‘Baby!’ perfectly! But, these NHK08 party dresses are also pretty gosh-darn awesome. Also a great choice for the songs.

Baby! Baby! Baby!

AKB’s second completely summer-inspired single appears next. Guess what, I have another story. I gave one of my dance teachers a CD of various songs, and this one happened to be on it. She ended up liking it, and when one of the jazz classes she taught needed a song for our spring recital, the students voted and ‘Baby! Baby! Baby!’ was declared as the winner. That’s right, AKB can appeal to tween girls. Who knew?

As per usual with all-AKB performances of this single, all of the girls stay on one section of the stage and there are tons of traffic jams and just general closeness happening on stage. Maybe they’ll re-work this? I happen to love the end of this performance with Jurina completely stealing the camera away from Takamina. It’s like my favorite front girl is replaced with an eleven-year old girl. Oh wait, that’s not an over-statement or anything.

Oogoe Diamond

‘Oogoe’ is another cornerstone in the new AKB48 discography. It’s the first single with their current label, King Records. When it was first announced, there was much speculation on whether or not this would be a darker or more powerful single. As it turns out, it ended up being more energetic and stronger than we expected, and it also featured a few things I felt would be essential to a new first single. A) It would be timeless. Songs with too much of an emphasis on one topic tend to get old very quickly. B) It would reflect the current AKB. ‘Oogoe’ features an all-new front-girl, a much more compex-sounding instrumental, more intricate choreography, and more interesting line distribution. C) It would be the new ‘Aitakatta.’ While it has yet to replace this fan-favorite, it has all the fundamental workings of the famous single: a repetitive word “Aitakatta/Daisuki.” lyrics about confessions of love, a mode of transportation is referred to, and trademark choreography. I think it was a rather successful release. This concert’s performance is great. Besides the fact that the girls in back get to do next to nothing as usual, the performance is fun to watch. My only question is, “What on earth are the Kenkyuusei wearing!?” That’s literally what I was thinking the entire time I first watched the DVD. During that viewing, I paused it multiple times to try and guess which costume they could possibly have on: “‘Wagamama na Nagareboshi’? ‘Tanjoubi no Yoru’? No, they’re only white. ‘Virgin Love’? No, they’re tiered. ‘Daisuki’? No, they’re simpler.” Seriously, I was completely perplexed as to where these costumes came from. I gave up and decided that they were new. (Actually come to think of it, are these from the Natsumatsuri Hibiyaon concert? I seem to remember the Moeno wearing something similar…)

10nen Zakura

Both verses of ’10nen Zakura’ are performed, presumably because they had yet to have been done in a big concert before. For those taking score, ‘Aitakatta,’ ‘BINGO!.’ ‘Romance, Irane!,’ and ’10nen Zakura’ were the only singles in the continuous single collection to have both verses performed. Again, the song is done in a three-tier performance with senbatsu and substitutes on the lower layer, other members on the middle layer, and RS at the top. At least this way they aren’t squished. One thing I hope for in a future concert is for ‘Oogoe’ and ‘Zakura’ to be done in school uniforms for the first time. I mean, they are school-themed, not princess party dress-themed.

Natsuki was given a semi-close-up approximately once. I felt the need to include a capture of her, despite her looking less-than-excited. Yui behind her looks poised to eat her. Watch out.

Oh no! There’s a Nacchan down! I repeat, a Nacchan down!

Dareka no Tame ni – What Can I Do For Someone? –

For the first time in a multi-Team concert, AKB performs A3’s ballad. I like the white costumes used during the Stage performances, but this is okay too. I’m glad they’re finally getting to use these songs, as every AKB Stage has had at least one ballad. I’m hoping that ‘Dakedo….’ is used at some point. I have to wonder if they’re saving that for a super special graduation, though. Not that this series doesn’t have a super special graduation or anything… Now, I’m one of those people who usually don’t like ballads, so while this one is very nice and the performance is beautiful, I really can’t say it strikes me as that amazing.

Now, I’m trying to figure out if the audience is singing along during the chorus, or if it’s just the recording. A concert hall-filling choir of wota gives me a rather cute picture in my head.

(Encore)

AKB Sanjou!

After AKB left their original major music label, a bunch of songs were made that in my opinion seem to mirror previous fan favorites. As previously stated, there are the similarities between ‘Aitakatta’ and ‘Oogoe Diamond.’ More of the songs that I feel could almost seem like re-made versions are ‘Sakura no Hanabiratachi’/’10 nen Zakura,’ ‘Tanjoubi no Yoru’/’Namida Surprise!,’ ‘Aozora ni Soba ni Ite’/’Sakura Iro no Sora no Shitade,’ ‘BINGO!’/’Baby! Baby! Baby!,’ and ‘Wasshoi B!’/’B Stars.’ Two songs that I think will be released later are new versions of ‘Dear My Teacher’ and ‘Virgin Love.’ Here, I feel like ‘AKB Sanjou!’ was created to replace the A1 encore song ‘AKB48.’ Obviously the fact that they both have the group’s name in their names helps, but the over-riding theme of AKB being awesome is present in both, as well as the fact that they don’t perform ‘AKB48’ in their concerts anymore, but they do perform this new version. Lyrically, the songs help generate an overview of where AKB is in its career. ‘AKB48’ presents the girls as new and wanting to bring in and keep audiences while ‘AKB Sanjou’ depicts the girls as powerful and able to work through anything. Both are acceptable summaries of the girls in the respective eras of AKB’s history.

The scrim was a nice touch to begin the song. Similar to the blinds at the AKB Theater, the diffused light looks much better and adds to the performance. It’s also much more climactic. Yay for good decisions by AKS!

Oh no. The girls are split up incorrectly again. I don’t like when the majority of the group is in front and then a few are in back. I’d prefer it to be split in half, or more people in back. I don’t like it when the chances of being in front are better than being in back because then it would just suck to be one of the few chosen to be in the back. I think I talk about this philosophy too much…

The kanji says “kamisama” or “god” if you hadn’t heard yet.

Hikouki Gumo

AKB’s new flag song introduced in the last NHK concert fits right in here. The lines are split up by Team in an even-is manner. More specifically, A/A/A K/K/K B/B B/B A/K/B/A. Please note that Team B gets an extra set of lines than what is the case in Team A concerts, and Team A gets an extra line in the break-down. By the time the chorus hits, the RS and SKE48 members are back on the stage for the encore.

I’m anxious to see Natsuki in the Hikouki Gumo PV coming out with the release of ‘RIVER.’

(Uriya and Saotome Graduation Ceremony)

Originally I wasn’t going to do little summaries of these MC-like sections, but now I broke down and I’ll do really, really short ones. The first concert of the trio features Research Student Uriya Akane and Team-B-member-turned-Research-Student Saotome Miki’s graduations. First, Uriya Akane announces her graduation. I don’t know how many of the other girls knew this happened, but I think most of the RS knew this was coming since there were many pictures of her with another RS or two on the AKB RS FC blog. There were theories outside of AKB, but they were of course just rumors.

Next, Uriya runs back on stage to say that she’s graduating, too, but everyone knew that already, so it’s more of a surprise appearance similar to what Nozofisu does in the third show. It’s interesting to note that these are the first two RS to get such nice graduations. It kind of makes sense though, as Uriya was a first generation RS, and Saotome belonged to Team B in the good old days.

Uriya gets some flowers via Sae.

Saotome (a Sato Natsuki fan, she even yelled “Sato” and “Natsuki” once when it was her turn for the shout in ‘Kiss Shite son Shichatta’ in one performance) gets her flowers from her former unofficial Team captain, CinDy. Their relationship is so cute here. It’s so respectable and heart-warming at the same time.

While the two RS graduates talk, Sayaka runs backstage and arranges for the instrumental of ‘Aitakatta’ to be put on so they don’t leave with a sour note. The graduates get to announce it.

Aitakatta (Encore Ver.)

This uplanned ‘Aitakatta’ is a fun one to watch, as none of the girls are quite sure what to do. Team B members all rush to Saotome at different times to wish her farewell, while everyone who had worked with Uriya before visited with her, including ex-RS Nakanishi Yuka. The graduates of course got the speaking part in the chorus. Not that that was really planned.

This was such a cute impromptu performance of AKB’s famous up-beat debut single. I’m glad that they had enough time that first night to do something like this… (And that right there is called foreshadowing.)

Concert 2 (Day 2)

Nagisa no CHERRY

For the first time ever, ‘Nagisa no CHERRY,’ the first unit Acchan led, and the unit that is used to promote each Team’s most popular member, is used for comedic purposes. At the time CinDy was the only original Team A member to not be a selected member in a PV. While she finally has ala ‘Iiwake Maybe,’ during her stay in AKB48, she was always hoping for a position within the senbatsu. Here, she actually takes Acchan’s position, and even better: you get to see Acchan and her substitutes getting stuck with some of the worst positions in a unit ever. I kind of wish that they would have included Mayu, but after the next song, I’m glad they didn’t. Also, if they were to include Mayu, I’d hope they would include Reina, too, since she has filled in for Mayu when Mayu was busy during B2. That way they could have all of the Teams represented, A, K, B, S, ex-RS. Team KII hadn’t started their first Stage yet.

It’s cute how CinDy really goes all out here. You can tell that she’s just awe-struck to be leading such a famous unit. The fact that now the front girls are stuck behind her rather than the opposite way arround just adds to it. If you didn’t notice, Jurina took the back position, which means she gets the center during the bridge. This position is usually given to the best dancer of the blue girls. Jurina obviously deserves that position.